In several racket sports, such as tennis and racketball, the players employ a racket for striking the game ball in order to place it in the opponents playing area. As a player makes his shot, the racket often vibrates as a result of the impact force of the game ball on the racket face. These vibrations, particularly in the case of metal-framed rackets, are transmitted along the handle of the racket and, in some cases, to the player's arm.
Players often tighten their grip on the racket handle in order to reduce the uncomfortable feeling produced by racket vibration. While this tightened grip tends to dampen the vibrations, it increases the strain on the player's arm and is likely to promote muscle fatigue.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,380, issued to Lacoste, discloses a damping mechanism for implements such as baseball bats and tennis rackets employing an elongated vibratable member formed of an elastomeric, energy absobring material. In the Lacoste devices, the energy absorbing material is typicaly embedded in the handle. In the case of a metal racket having an open throat, each end of the elongate material is permanently bound to either side respectively of the throat portion of the racket.
The devices disclosed by Lacoste have several limitations. The Lacoste devices are typically installed only during the construction of the racket, are an integral part of the racket, and are not easily removable from the racket once they are installed. In addition, Lacoste does not provide a means for mounting an elongate energy absorbing member in a cantilevered fashion on the throat portion of the racket.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.